The Next Avengers
by purpleswans
Summary: Erica Foster thought that she was normal. She also thought her friends where normal too. After a surprise introduction to SHIELD and their work, she starts to realize how wrong she was... and what happened to her Father.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclamer: I do not own the Avengers**

* * *

Chapter 1: Dreams and Mornings

_Erica felt safe. So very, very safe, as though she knew that a thousand warriors were prepared to fight to the death to protect her. She also felt loved, as though her family entire family was near. She was comfortable in some kind of silk gown and sleeping in a giant, gold cradle. Her surroundings were magnificent, an enormous golden room with decorated with carvings and tapestries alluding to legends and bedtime stories. Erica would have been perfectly fine with staying in this moment forever._

_ Suddenly, the door at the other side of the room flew open. A giant warrior clad in battle armor and a red cape ran to Erica and picked her up like she weighed nothing. The warrior then carried her out of the room and down an enormous hallway._

_ Erica began to squirm in the warrior's arms. Although she felt as though being carried by him was nothing new (in fact, she felt that his arms inspired memories of comfort), she did not like that fact that he was running with her. _

_ The warrior looked down on her lovingly and said – _

Erica's alarm clock went off.

Erica really, really, REALY hates her alarm clock. Part of it has to do with the fact that even in September it plays an annoying jingle bells melody. A few years ago her alarm clock had crash-landed off her dresser and as a result her choice in alarm sounds and been set to default. Unfortunately, Erica had thrown away her directions for that clock a long time before then and didn't know how to change the sound. Despite that annoyance, the real reason Erica hates her alarm clock is because of mornings like this, when it interrupts and amazing dream.

Erica has had that dream for as long as she can remember. Usually it just ends with the warrior picking her up, but recently she has managed to go farther in the timeline of the dream. Now, her alarm wakes her up just before she can hear the warrior speak. It's very annoying.

Erica untangled her right arm from the sheets and searched for that stupid off button. Not wanting to open her eyes, she felt for he hated timekeeper with only one hand. Suddenly, an ark of static electricity riveted down her arm. She must have tossed and turned in her sheets more than she realized. The alarm stopped bleeping, even though Erica didn't remember actually hitting the button.

Erica was just starting to let herself drift back to sleep when her mother opened the door. "Erica! You have to get ready for school!" Erica's mom shouted. Groaning, Erica rolled off her bed and stared to walk to her closet to decide what she would wear today. On the way, she tripped over her alarm clock, which had lost all its power.

_Strange_, Erica thought, _I don't remember throwing it across the room today_.

After dressing in jeans and a t-shirt she went downstairs for a quick breakfast. When she got there, she saw that Lily was already there chewing on a piece of toast. Erica had met Lily in Kindergarten. Erica had seen a bunch of guys making fun of Lily for her second-hand backpack and had told them that they were being mean. The guys had just laughed at her and walked away.

"Don't worry," Lily had told Erica, "I'll just get them back later."

Later that day, Erica noticed Lily tactfully situating her feet so that when those boys were forced to walk by her desk they tripped over her feet. Erica decided that it would be a good idea to stay on Lily's side so she wouldn't be subject to Lily's revenge. 10 years later, Erica knew that she had made the right decision.

"Well, sleeping beauty has finally come down!" Lily taunted. Despite being best friends and practically sisters, Lily still had a tendency to tease Erica. A lot.

"Yeah, well, not all of us wake up at the crack of dawn to make ourselves _purty_ for James," Erica countered. James is Lily's crush.

"You know, the occasional skirt wouldn't kill you. Or at least, something other than a t-shirt."

"I don't have anything against nice clothes occasionally. They just are constricting. I need to be at the top of my game as much as possible. Suppose a Chitauri pops out of a bush on our way to school. I would be more capable of fighting it off in this outfit than in yours."

Lilly gave Erica a very concerned look. "Has anyone ever told you that you're crazy?"

Erica smirked. "Yes, all the time. And I don't care."

* * *

**Please review. This is my first Fic, so feel free to tell me how to improve.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers. **

* * *

Chapter 2: Meet the Gang

Erica and Lily got into their first period seats just as the bell rang, as usual. For some unknown reason, no matter how early Erica's mom drops them off at the school, they always find themselves racing against the bell to get in their seats in time. They have been running to class every day since Erica offered to let Lily stay at her house to avoid the bullies in foster care Lily had previously stayed with (an offer that had quickly become a permanent arrangement). The race against time probably had something to do with their tendency to waste time arguing about whether or not either of them looked ok. Well, whether or not Lily looked ok. Erica honestly doesn't really care how she looks so long as it is relatively presentable.

When the bell had finished its far-to-long shriek, the biology teacher, Mr. Parker, got out of his chair and started writing the morning assignment on the board. Mr. Peter Parker is Erica's favorite science teacher. Unlike most of the other teachers in this New York public school, he actually knew his subject. More importantly, he made biology _interesting_. They made posters of the taxonomy classifications, watched cute meiosis videos, and at the end of the year they got to dissect a fetal pig! (Ok, maybe not everyone was as excited about that as Erica.) From what Erica had heard, he had a wife named Gwen Parker who worked at Oscorp, and Mr. Parker had worked there for a while. No one knew what he was doing teaching Pre-AP high school Biology instead of working for some big-name company like Stark Industries or Hammer International, but they were all grateful anyway.

The problem that Mr. Parker had picked out for today was very easy, so after writing a short answer in her notebook, Erica started scanning the room for something to entertain herself with. In front of her was the tall, buff, and blond jock named James Rogers. Yes, James as in Lily's crush. He was the quarterback, incredibly smart, and a very polite gentleman. In other words, the perfect recipe for a high school heartthrob. Although Erica has to admit that he has a pretty nice body, she doesn't think it's worth it to compete against every other girl in school. To say the least, this isn't the case for Lily.

Continuing to look around the room for something interesting, Erica noticed her 2nd best friend, Anastasia Barton. When Erica and Lily where in third grade, they had noticed that there was this really pretty girl getting all the boys to do everything for her. A few months into the school year, said pretty girl had stomped over to their table and asked to join them. Lily was skeptical and asked her why she wanted to work with them and not her "pitiful little lap dogs?" (Lily's words, not Erica's.) Anastasia had just flipped her hair and said, "They think that just 'cause I'm a girl I can't do anything. Oh, and they made fun of Robin Hood, my hero." A few Norse Mythology projects later and the three of them where practically inseparable. Currently, Anastasia was the only real member of the school archery club (Lily and Erica had joined to show their support for their friend, but weren't actually interested in shooting arrows). She was an expert gymnast and probably could be a cheerleader except she didn't have time after school because of "family stuff." Erica has been meaning to interrogate her about what exactly in going on with her family since she doesn't recall ever actually meeting any of Ana's relatives.

Looking behind her to the back of the room, Erica saw Phil Ross and Timothy Star. Erica seriously LOVES these guys. Well, not loves as in _loves_, but as in best-guy-friends-in-the-whole-world kind of love. Though, sometimes, every so often, Tim would do or say something that makes Erica think about how cute he is when he smiles… SNAP OUT OF IT ERICA! Anyway, in additional to being Erica, Lily, and Ana's best guy friends they are also practically inseparable. Well, Timmy is inseparable from Phil. Phil is an introvert and deals with Tim's craziness in return for a lab partner that is willing to do some of the work for himself.

Phil Ross had transferred from a High School in Utah halfway through first semester last year. He is really quiet and shy, but a total genius. The guy has straight A's without even trying, and still has time to tinker with some personal projects in the Chemistry lab and engineering workshop. After trying for several months to get the guy to open up since he had been assigned as Erica's lab partner for Physics last year after this little incident with a Tesla coil (Erica hadn't _meant_ to put her lazy, annoying cheerleader lab partner in the hospital), Erica had finally broken down and done a Google search for his old High School. According to the Internet Newspaper article she had found, some kind of bomb had exploded in the Gym and had injured several students and teachers. Thankfully no one was killed, but this knowledge convinced Erica that the poor guy was probably suffering from post-traumatic stress. This would also explain the pills she had seen him taking just before lunch.

However, if anyone was going to get Phil Ross out of his shell, it would be Timothy Star. The guy was like a machine. A hyperactive, way to smart, sarcastic robot. He had transferred at the beginning of the year, and was already the life of the classroom. His bubbly personality was contagious. Although he very often needed people to give him a reality check and bring him down to earth, he was really nice to everyone, even when they shot down one of his brilliant "let's see what would happen if..." ideas. And despite being actually quite popular, he preferred to stay single and hang out with Erica's gang and his science bro. He is the only person who could ever challenge Phil's current unspoken title as smartest guy in school. They guy can hack into anything, as proven by removing the Tesla coil incident from Erica's permanent record. And when the boy smiles…

"Earth to Erica Foster?" Mr. Parker was asking her a question.

"Sorry Mr. Parker. Could you repeat the question, please?" Erica didn't want to seem stupid to Mr. Parker. Right now he seemed to be the only teacher who didn't think she was either stupid or in need of Psychiatric care.

Lily rolled her eyes. "The difference between osmosis and diffusion is that osmosis only has to do with water."

"Thank you, Ms. Frost," Mr. Parker nodded to Lily. "Now class, this is important because…."

Erica slumped in her seat. This day wasn't turning out to good.

Lily leaned over and whispered in her ear, "got certain Timothy on your mind?"

"Shut up."

* * *

**So... this chapter didn't flow quite as well as the last one. I know there are parts I was unsure about the tense, but I tried my best... and that's what reviews are for! The main purpouse of this chapter was to introduce you to most of my OCs.**

**Reviews make me feel all warm & fuzzy and want to update this story more! :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers**

* * *

Chapter 3: Families and Wishes

By the time the final bell had rung for the end of school, Erica was more than ready for the day to be over. It seemed like every teacher had assigned homework. She had spent so much time joking with Timmy during lunch that she had only had two bites of her sandwich by the time the bell rang. Oh, and there was the Mythology discussion that had taken place in her English class.

For reasons that Erica can't remember, the students of that class were discussing different ancient Mythologies. Now, if Erica wasn't so impulsive, she would have known by then to just stay out of the conversation and tune out everyone till the bell rang. But, since she is impulsive and obsessed with Mythology, Erica started to butt into the conversation.

Erica has never considered herself to be extremely "school smart." Her mom is an Astrophysicist for the local college so she knows a bunch of random stuff about wormholes and planetary orbits, but when it comes to most stuff in school, Erica feels like she is just as lost as most of her classmates. Most people get the impression that she is incredibly smart since she gets A's in most of her Pre-AP classes and hangs out with people like Timmy and Phil, but in reality the A's are a result of hanging out with smart people who are willing to re-explain everything from class and help her with the homework.

However, the one thing Erica considers herself to be the local expert on is Norse Mythology. When she was little and still demanding for bedtime stories, her mother and Uncle Eric Selvig (not her real uncle, an old friend of her mother's and the closest thing Erica has to a Grandfather) would either read to her from a Mythology book or tell her stories about Thor saving the world. As a result, Erica knew more Norse Mythology than anyone at school (a fact that she was both extremely proud of and a little disappointed in, since she always had to educate people before she discussed Myths with them). This is also the reason why Erica's favorite Avenger is Thor.

Usually, if Erica chances upon someone who knows enough about Mythology to form an argument, they end up in either a loud discussion or a heated argument. The discussion in English today had ended on the argument side. Hence her bad mood.

"Just ignore them, Erica," Timothy tried comforting her. "You and I both know that Valkyries are awesome, and if those idiots don't agree, it's their loss."

Erica sighed. "You're right, of course. Still doesn't stop me from being mad. I think I need a pick me up. Hey Ana," She called out at seeing her friend,"want to catch some hamburgers and get Tim and Phil to help us with our homework?"

"I'd love to Erica, but I'm afraid I've got some family stuff to take care of," Anastasia told her friends.

"Seriously Ana, you've got 'family stuff' every day. Doesn't your family want you to have some form of a social life?" Lily asked.

"Sometimes, I wonder about that myself," Ana joked. "Bye, guys."

"See ya, Ana."

After watching Ana walk away, Erica turned to her friends other friends and asked "Have any of you actually met any of her family members?"

"I think I remember hearing her mention something about 'needing to talk to Auntie Hill,'" Phil said, "at least, I think she said Auntie."

"I heard her say that the only reason she didn't join the Cheerleading squad was because her Uncle Fury wouldn't let her," an unknown voice said behind Erica.

Erica whipped around to find that the owner of the voice was none other the James Rogers.

He looked a little sheepish, like he was embarrassed that he had been caught eavesdropping. "Sorry, didn't mean to but in. I had just come over to apologize for not defending you guys last period. Those guys were just being mean, and I couldn't find an opportunity to tell them to let off."

"Yeah, well, apology accepted," Erica replied, ignoring the fact that Lily looked like a deer caught in the headlights at the sight of James talking to them. "What were you saying about the only reason she didn't join the Cheerleaders?"

James sighed. "After she did so great on that tumbling portion of P.E., I overheard Coach ask her if she would be interested in joining the Cheer squad. Anastasia had told her she would love to, but her Uncle didn't want her to participate in something as time-demanding as Cheer. Real shame, I saw her in P.E. She was really good."

"I didn't know that she wanted to cheer," Phil said.

"Neither did I," said Lily.

"Nor I," said Timmy.

"Nor I," said Erica. "Honestly, I don't care much for Cheerleaders, most of the ones I know are stuck-up idiots who aren't even good, but it would be really cool if she joined and straitened them all out." Suddenly, Erica had an idea. "Hey! Here's an idea: why don't we follow her home and talk to her parents? Maybe we could convince them to let her try out for the squad if she really wants to."

"Hey! I think I've got something that might help us!" Tim exclaimed. He started sifting through his backpack until he pulled out what looked like an archaic flip phone. "I made this in Electronics. Technically, we were supposed to be using a bread board to make different switches turn on different lights, but since I'd finished that in like, three seconds… Basically, it's a cell phone tracker. Just type in a cell phone number," he typed in Ana's phone number, "press the green button, and in a few minutes the phone's location will show up on the screen."

"Are you sure that's legal?" James asked.

"Satellite codes mean nothing to me," Tim answered. "Now let's see… Whoa. She's at Philip's Bay."

"What's so special about Phillip's Bay?" asked Phil.

"Well, you see… Due to my extracurricular activity of using my supreme hacking skills to find out everything about everything, I happen to know for a fact that Philips's Bay is actually a loading bay for S.H.I.E.L.D. quinjets."

"Shield?" James asked.

"Yeah, S.H.I.E.L.D. As in Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division. The super spies. Best known for forming the Avengers for the first time."

Ah, that explained it. For reasons that are unknown to Erica, Tim is obsessed with the Avengers, especially Iron Man. Erica suspects that it might be partly because he sees a lot of himself in Tony Stark. They are both technically minded geniuses, and they even have the same initials. However, Erica finds it highly unlikely that Tim will inherit a multi-billion dollar company. She wouldn't put it past him to build a flying suit of armor, though.

"Well, let's get going," James suggested. "Tim, keep that device out so you can let us know if she moves. We've got a family to meet."

* * *

**Well, now we're going somewhere. Hopefully I will finally start to explain most of these character's backstories, even the ones they aren't fully aware of themselves. **

**Reviews are much appreciated!**


	4. Chapter 4

**So, this chapter is much longer than I realized... and it still hasn't reached the point in the plot i want it to... Oh well!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers**

* * *

Chapter 4: Secrets Part 1

When Erica and her friends got out of the subway close to Philip's Bay, her phone started vibrating. Unfortunately, as soon as they had gotten back into the light Tim had started running, following the insane directions that his mobile tracking device was instructing him, so all Erica could do was hope the message wasn't important and race after that crazy boy with a talking flip phone. Tim insisted that he had programmed the tracking device to describe the fastest path to the point of interest, but after traveling several questionable alleys, Erica was starting to doubt that.

Nonetheless, the phone did eventually get them to Philip's bay. To the casual passerby, they probably looked very unusual. The star quarterback, a nerdy introvert, a sassy tomboy, and a visibly shy girl (Lily dose look shy, until you get to know her) all out of breath and glaring at a geek fiddling with three phones at once. Timothy walked up to large crate and brushed one of the phones along the sides, as if he was scanning for something.

"Here it is!" Tim suddenly shouted.

"Here what is?" asked Erica.

"The entrance to the S.H.I.E.L.D. base!" Tim replied.

"Uh, Tim, that's great and all, but we're here for _Ana_. Not to follow your crazy Avengers fantasy," Lily told Tim.

"Yeah, seriously dude," James agreed.

"You guys don't get it," Tim explained. "I'm not planning on going _through_ the entrance. Unless, of course, Ana has gone through before us. But that's unlikely. Look right there," he pointed to a small bolt close to the top of the crate. "Since there aren't any other bolts in a line with that bolt, and it would make no sense if they where there anyway, then there is not a cross-beam attached there. Which leads me to deduce that…?" Tim turned to his friends expectantly.

After a few awkward moments, Phil figured it out. "The bolt isn't actually a bolt? At least, it doesn't serve the function of a normal bolt. By the way, have you been reading a lot of Sherlock Holmes recently?"

"I have, actually. Anyway, this fact, as well as the fact that this is a S.H.I.E.L.D. base leads me to the conclusion that this bold is actually a security camera."

"Wait, so they can see us?" James asked.

"Only if they're looking. I think that the camera's function has more to do with checking to make sure that anyone getting through the entrance is who they say they are. You know, facial recognition, iris scans. All that fun high-security stuff. However, a camera is a camera. And a camera with the range and angle that I think this one has, it would be able to pick up someone going anywhere past here from the subway stop. And," Tim suddenly looked very embarrassed, "since my tracking device is only accurate up to 1 mile radius, we need a better idea of where we need to look. "

Erica suddenly figured out what he was going to do. "You're going to hack into S.H.I.E.L.D."

"WHAT!" everyone else shouted.

"Only for a few minutes," Tim explained while typing like a madman on his Smartphone.

"Are. You. INSANE!" Lily shouted.

"I think so. Seriously! Hacking into S.H.I.E.L.D. for some video. That's like going into an army base just to ask for directions." Phil stated, in shock over the stupidity of his best friend.

"Can't we, you know, walk up and down asking people if they've seen her?" James asked. "You know, like normal people looking for their normal friend?"

"What generation are you from, foot-boy? The 80's?" Tim replied, still typing. "Besides, we aren't normal people. Get used to it."

In the next few days, Erica would contemplate the irony of Timothy's statement. But at that particular moment, she was a little more occupied by the screaming alarms and Agents with guns pointed at her.

* * *

After Tim's hacking had set off the alarms, Erica and her friends where led down an elevator (Which was located in the crate Tim had said was the entrance. Tim was really proud of that) and into a conference room. There they were told to wait until "Director Fury can come and access the situation" which was taking a while. All of Erica's friends seemed to be in different levels of panic.

Lily seemed to be the least panicked out of the five of them. Then again, she and Erica had gotten into awkward situations before. Just not on this level.

James looked like he had absolutely no idea how to react. Erica figured that he had never gotten into trouble before, since he always seemed to be a goody-two-shoes perfect guy at school. He was keeping his cool pretty well, though.

Tim looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Everyone in the room was glaring at him. The agents had taken all three of his cell phones. Mind you ,he was the reason they were in this situation in the first place, so Erica didn't exactly feel sorry for him.

Phil looked like he was bordering a psychotic breakdown. The poor guy was breathing heavily and had shaking hands. Erica asked him what was wrong.

"Huh? Oh, nothing just nervous. I don't like enclosed places." Phil tried explaining. His shifting eyes told a different story.

"Are you claustrophobic?" James asked.

"Nah. I just… enclosed spaces… its complicated."

Before any of them could continue interrogating their friend, the door opened and a man in a black coat and an eye patch marched in.

"Alright, which one of you kids tried using A.I.M. technology to hack into my base?" the eye patch (Erica figured that he was Director Fury) asked.

Everyone turned to glare at Timothy.

Tim didn't even try to deny it. "You mean A.I.M. still hasn't updated their programs? I made that code, like, years ago."

"Wait, you MADE that code? For A.I.M.?" Director Fury asked. "What's your name, kid?"

"Timothy Star. Yes, I did make that code. However, A.I.M. stole that code from me. It's a bit of a long story."

"Wait, hold up, what's A.I.M.?" James asked.

"A group of evil geniuses," Tim replied.

"You know, its funny Mr. Star," Director Fury commented, looking over the shoulder of an agent typing on a computer. "Although there are records of you in almost every other database in America, S.H.I.E.L.D. has no record of you. No birth date, no previous school records, nothing. Care to explain?"

Tim looked uneasy. "Like I said, it's a long story."

Director Fury sat down. "We've got time."

Erica leaned forward, listening intently. Despite how much she thought that she know about Tim, she was suddenly very much aware of how little she knew of his past.

Tim took a deep breath. "You see, I have absolutely no idea who my parents are. When I was a baby, A.I.M. kidnapped me and raised me."

"Why would A.I.M. want to take a baby?" one of the Agents asked.

"He got farther into our systems than anyone else who's last name isn't 'Stark'. I can see why they would want him." Fury answered.

"Wait, seriously, I did? Nice!" Tim smiled.

"But, Director, they couldn't have known that when he was a baby!" the agent countered.

"Well, I did hear one of their goons talking about gathering 'protection money' from my parents, and another one said something about 'enjoying making my parents suffer', so I guess that might have something to do with it." Tim commented. "Anyway, growing up with A.I.M. wasn't exactly heaven. So, by the time I was 9 I had already tried escaping 14 times. I always was stopped at the last minute. Then, last March, I finally managed to escape and get on the midnight subway. After that, I decided to lay low and pretend that I was normal to stay off A.I.M.'s radar until I could go back and find out my parent's names and finally get to meet them. I used the hacking skills I learned from A.I.M. to give myself fake records. I decided to go to high school in order to get a better idea of what my life would have been like if I hadn't been taken. I wandered to the school I am now and saw…" Tim suddenly turned to look at Erica. "Anyway, I decided that school was as good as any other and faked my records. The emergency number on my records goes to an automated response program I created so anyone trying to contact my parents wouldn't be the wiser. I got an apartment by hiring a guy I from the internet to sign the lease, pretending to be my father. And that's it. I guess it isn't that long of a story after all. It just feels like a long story, since it is my entire life."

Director Fury nodded, and was hopefully about to tell them they could go, when an all-too-familiar voice said, "Director, Agent Hill needs you on the bridge."

Director Fury nodded to the familiar figure in the doorway. "Thank you, Agent Barton. I'll be there in a moment."

Erica gasped. "Ana? Anastasia Barton?"

For the first time since Erica had known her, Anastasia Barton looked stunned.

* * *

**And now we have begun to scratch the surface of everything that is Timothy Star! Next chapter (or two chapters) will work on explaining Ana, James, Phil, and scratch the surface of Lily. Both Lily and Timmy have really complicated back stories that will take a while to explain fully, or even for them to find out themselves. Erica should be explained over the course of the story.  
**

**Reviews make me update faster! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Err... I know it's been a while... I had a lot of stuff to do. Sorry!  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers or anything related to them. Just my O.C.s **

* * *

Chapter 5: Secrets Part 2

Director Fury frowned. "Do you know these people, Agent Barton?"

Ana gulped. "Yes sir. They go to my school," was all that she offered as an explanation.

When Erica heard this, she stood up. "Really, Ana? 'They go to my school'? After everything we have gone through together, I could have sworn we deserved more recognition."

Ana tried to interrupt Erica, but there was no stopping Erica's rant now that she was on a role. "But NOOOO, despite the fact that Lily and I have been there for you all these years, despite the fact that we have probably told you most of our secrets over the years, despite the fact we are your FRIENDS, you never even considered, never even _entertained_ the idea of telling us about this."

Timothy started to interject, "Uh, Erica, maybe…"

Bad idea. "And YOU," she screamed at Tim, "Did it ever occur to you that you could tell us about your past? You know, since we're you're FRIENDS!"

Timothy looked crestfallen at the reminder.

Erica turned back to continue yelling at Anastasia, but the recently exposed S.H.I.E.L.D. agent didn't let her. "You think I didn't want to tell you? Trust me, I would have loved to. There have even been moments when I wished that this part of my life didn't exist and I could just hang out, get some burgers, and work on homework without having to worry about who wants to kill me, which country I'm going to spend next weekend running across, or what my next excuse is going to have to be to you guys! Believe me; I don't enjoy this situation any more than you!" Ana shouted.

The room became silent for a few minutes. Erica started to realize that they were waiting for her reaction to this new development. She was about to say something, when Director Fury piped up, "I see Ana has followed her orders concerning keeping her involvement in S.H.I.E.L.D. activities unknown to her peers.

"Wait, _orders_?" asked Lily.

"Great job, Uncle Fury," Ana muttered.

"Hold on. _He's_ your Uncle?" Phil pointed Director Fury.

"Well, technically, no." Ana took a deep breath and began to explain. "My Mom and Dad were both S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. As a matter of fact, the way I heard it, the first time they met was when Dad was sent to kill Mom and ended up recruiting her instead. Anyway, as a result of both their careers being basically super-spies, I grew up on the S.H.I.E.L.D. hellicarrier, surrounded by their co-workers and other associates. Uncle Fury," she indicated the Director, "started taking care of me whenever my parents were gone on missions. He, along with my parents and Agent Hill, started giving me S.H.I.E.L.D. training as soon as I could walk and talk. Everything was fine for several years. The training was more "life skills" than actual recruitment; nobody really wanted to force the life of a spy on me. But when I was 11, my parents went on a top-secret mission and didn't come back. I went to Uncle Fury and demanded that he read me into their last mission, so I could find or avenge them. He told me that in order for him to do that, I would have to be an agent of the highest security clearance. I signed up to become an official agent and have been doing missions to improve my ranking and security clearance ever since."

Erica was stunned. No wonder Ana had always been secretive. Her entire life was probably classified! And losing her parents… Erica didn't know what she would do if she didn't have her mom. She also understood the "wanting to know what happened to them" bit. Erica had never known her dad. From what little information about him she had managed to wrangle from her mother, she guessed that he was an M.I.A. soldier overseas. Unfortunately, she didn't even have a name to Google search. Her mom always uses her maiden name, and the only times her mother would mention him; it would be as "Thor", like the god of thunder. Erica had always assumed that must be a nickname; no one is actually named "Thor".

Ana sighed. "Well, that's everything. By the way, what are you guys doing here anyway?"

"_This_ genius," James nudged Timmy, "decided that it would be a smart idea to hack into the super-spy agency to help us find you."

"Well, we did find her, didn't we?" asked Tim. "In my book, this is a win! Just, not the type of win we expected."

"Yea, great. Tim's a genius. We found Ana. Can we go now?" asked Phil.

Erica turned to get a good look at Phil. If he had looked nervous before, then the guy was having a total Psychotic breakdown. The poor guy was sweating all over and had shaking hands. His eyes where darting every which way like he was afraid something was about to attack him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pill container. He started fiddling with the cap, trying to open it. Suddenly, Ana reached across the table and grabbed the container out of his hands and read the label.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, "It isn't labeled! Please tell me you aren't an addict, Phil."

"No, they're not that kind of drugs," Phil replied. "If you must know, their experimental emotional relaxers. My mom makes them for me."

"Still sounds like drugs to me," Lily said.

Phil closed his eyes and breathed for a few minutes. The way he was breathing, Erica got the feeling that he was about to start meditating. After he finished his mini-meditation, Phil told them, "You guys don't want to see me really angry."

Director Fury frowned. "What's your name, kid?"

"Phillip Ross, sir. Now, can I get my pills back?"

Fury turned to Ana. "Give him his pills" Ana grudgingly handed Phil his pills, at which point Phil dry-swallowed two of them.

Fury looked legitimately worried, as though Phil was reminding him of a less than pleasant memory. Finally, he asked, "You wouldn't happen to be related to General Ross?"

Phil scowled. "Yeah, he's my grandpa. Not that he really even really knows I exist. Apparently, he never liked my dad and so my mom cut off contacts with Grandpa when she ran off to be with dad."

Fury looked even more worried. "And your dad would be…"

Phil sighed. "Bruce Banner."

Tim gasped. "_Dr. Bruce Banner_? He's your dad? The genius in Gama radiation?"

Phil rolled his eyes. "Of course you would recognize his name."

Tim looked embarrassed. "Well, yeah. But Dude. I mean, _Dude_. If he's your dad, then.."

Phil interrupted him. "Let's just say I've inherited some of my dad's problems and leave it at that."

"Ok, sure. You're right, we really don't want to see you get angry."

"Any chance you'd be willing to explain?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, we're sorta lost here." Erica added.

"Honestly, I'd prefer not to tell you guys if I don't have to." Phil said.

"Just one question," Fury asked Phil. "Are you responsible for that incident in Utah a year ago?"

Phil nodded. "I didn't mean to. Normally, I can keep it under control through psychotherapy and the pills, but that day a bunch of guys decided to bully me and I had just run out of pills… well, you know the rest."

Erica's mind started spinning. The Utah incident… Erica figured that had to do with Phil's old school. The newspaper had said it was a bomb, but there was no reason for someone to bomb the school. Not to mention the destruction seemed to follow a path rather than being centered around one particular point… Also, how did Tim recognize the name Dr. Bruce Banner? Tim did know a few random science facts, but most of his seemingly unrelated and unnecessary information had some kind of connection to the Avengers… Where had she heard of Gama radiation, at least in relation to the Avengers? When Erica finally remembered, it all made sense. And she wished that she hadn't thought so hard.

Erica turned to Phil and asked, "Are you the Hulk?"

* * *

**Still didn't flow as well as I would like... I think the problem is I have more stuff that has to get done in this chapter, and it still didn't do all the things I wanted. Oh Well**

**By the way, i recently remembered that I am eventually going to have to write a prequel to this story. I probably will wait till after _Thor: the Dark World_ comes out so I have a better idea of how to begin the story. If I feel like I'm going through this story to fast and need to publish it so things that pop up don't appear to come out of nowhere. Right now, I have it planned that the prequel won't be needed till the end of the 2nd book (with references throughout the whole 2nd book) so I should be able to wait until at least I get a good look at the trailer.**

**Reviews make me happy and more likely to update! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**(Wanders in is sheepishly) Hey, sorry I have been missing for (Looks at watch) uh, about 6 months. Things got busy. But, I have a new chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

Chapter 6: Secrets Part 3

Everyone was stunned by Erica's sudden question. They were all staring at Phil, looking for a conformation or denial of this horrendous fact.

Tim, in typical Timothy Star fashion, decided to try and ease the awkwardness. "Technically, there is only one Hulk, and he has been around since long before any of us were born."

Phil ignored Tim and looked at his hands. In a whisper so low it was almost incomprehensible, he simply stated, "Yes."

Everyone had different reactions to this new revelation. Fury, Tim, and Erica, since they had all already figured it out, scanned the other's faces for their expressions. Anastasia leaned back and fingered something tucked in her back pocket (probably a gun). Steve leaned back in his chair, like he was trying to get as far away Phil as possible, and turned to look for the nearest exits. Lily simply reached across the table to offer a friendly hand of comfort to the poor guy, who then eventually looked up from his hands and accepted her offer.

Director Furry cleared his throat. "Well, now that's out, lets figure out what we are going to do about you?"

Timmy piped up, "Wait, what do you mean, do about us? You know now that we weren't doing anything wrong, so why don't you just let us go?"

Director Fury glared at Timothy. "Ignoring the recent revelations about you and Mr. Ross, the fact still remains that five teenagers just tried to break into a secure facility. Not to mention that you are all now liable to breaking Agent Barton's cover; I think you kids need to rethink how much trouble you are all in."

"I really shouldn't be here," James blurted out. "I'm going to miss practice, and Coach has already gotten on my case once this year for missing practice to take that make-up test…"

"Dude, a little perspective," Tim interrupted. "There are worst things that missing a few hours of Alpha males slamming against each other."

"You clearly do not understand football AT ALL, Mr. I'm-so-smart Star." James countered.

"I'm just saying this isn't all about you football stars, Rogers!"

"Rogers?" Fury asked.

"Yeah, that's James's last name," Ana explained.

However, Fury's expression was not one looking for an explanation. The S.H.I.E.L.D. Director looked more like he had put together a puzzle and was excited to show everyone else how he had done it. "Bucky James Rogers?" he asked.

James cringed. For reasons nobody really knows, James hates being called by his first name. Every year, when the teachers are calling role James responds with a "Present, but I prefer to be called James." You can always tell witch teachers are nicer by which name they use to refer to James.

"I prefer to be called James."

"What? You don't like being named after your dad's old buddy anymore?" Fury asked.

James looked both confused and surprised. "It isn't about that, I just… How do you know I was named after my dad's friend?"

Fury looked dejected. "Come on; don't tell me you don't remember your old Uncle Fury? Well, no, I guess not, you were only 5 years old and clinging to your dad's leg when you weren't tossing a baseball."

When James heard this he suddenly became really interested in his shoes. "Oh. So you knew my dad."

The Director laughed. "Knew your father? Kid, I remember when, well, we go so far back that…" Fury looked at the other occupants of the room. "You do know who his father is don't you?"

Everyone shook their heads. Erica kind of felt bad; everyone seemed to know everything about James, but no one had ever heard any mention of his family. Kind of makes one consider how little they actually know about the guy.

James mumbled something uidentifiable.

"Sorry James, didn't quite catch that?" Ana inquired.

James took a deep breath and blurted out, "My dad is Steve Rogers!"

The room turned dead silent. Erica knew that she had heard that name somewhere before, but couldn't remember what he was famous for. She scanned her companions' faces to see if any of them would speak up and explain what was so special about this guy and save her from having to ask and sounding like an idiot.

Of course, Tim was the one to break the silence. "OK, can I officially call dibs on being James partner on any WWII projects in the upcoming future?"

"Is that SERIOUSLY your reaction?!" Lily exclaimed.

"Well, I just wanted to get it out of the way," Tim replied innocently.

"Tim, his dad's the world's first superhero," Ana sighed.

_ World War II, world's first superhero… Oh!_ Erica suddenly remembered who Steve Rogers was. She turned to James, "Your dad is Captain America? Why didn't you tell anybody?"

"Would any of you have believed me?" James replied.

_No_ Erica thought.

Ana and Tim were still arguing, but Lily had turned to give James an incredibly creepy High School girl crush/fangirl stare. Honestly, Erica wasn't overly surprised. Lily already had already developed a crush on James, and now she finds out he's the son of a famous superhero. Of course she is going to fall for him more (though, if she thinks she is going to attract his attention by giving him a creepy stare, Erica is going to have to give her a reality check). The person Erica was really worried about was Phil. Right after admitting something as embarrassing as occasionally turning into a giant green rage monster, he then finds out that James's secret actually makes him even cooler than he already was. Erica wouldn't blame him for being a little jealous of James. However, he seemed to be a little relieved that he wasn't in the spotlight anymore, although he seemed a little sad when he saw Lilly staring at James.

After a few moments of Ana and Timmy exchanging words, a woman dressed as a S.H.I.E.L.D agent came in. "Director, there is a quinjet waiting for you in the hanger bay. It is a level 5 issue that requires you're immediate attention."

"Thank you, Agent Hill. Let me just finish up with this issue." Director Fury acknowledged. He turned to Erica and asked, "Would you happen to have a secret you need to let out?"

Erica thought back on her life, of all the things that even she didn't know or fully understand. Her father and what happened to him, why her mother was so secretive, that strange dream, not to mention everything about Lilly…

Erica turned to the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., looked him in the eye, and in her most confident voice, stated "No."

Agent Hill turned to Fury. "Sir, is this some kind of recruitment interview? 'Cause that was almost believable. She would make a hell of an Agent."

Fury smiled. "Thank you Agent Hill, you've just given me an idea. It's decided, the five of you will join Agent Barton as agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."

Ana and Tim stopped arguing to join the others in an exclamation. "WHAT?!"

* * *

**Please Read & Review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Another Chapter! Just to show you how much I love you all. It's also the longest chapter I have writen yet, so have fun!**

**Disclaimer: If you think it isn't mine, it probably isn't**

* * *

Chapter 7: An Uncommon Storm

To be perfectly honest, Erica had no idea how she and Lilly had managed to get home. After it was decided that both of them along with Tim, Phil, and James would join Ana as agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., all six of them where escorted off the base. Fury told them that he had an old friend and former consultant stationed at their High School who would make contact with them tomorrow (Ana was very angry to discover this, since apparently means that they were sent to keep an eye on her). Erica didn't really know how to respond to the sudden events. On one hand, the idea of being a top-secret superspy sounded really cool. On the other, Erica wished that she had some say in the matter. Not to mention, she had absolutely no idea what she could bring to the team. Tim and Phil obviously had their tech smarts, and with his athletic abilities James could probably be a brilliant fighter. But Erica honestly didn't think that she had any useful attributes. Yeah, she usually pretended to be confident and sure of herself, but deep down Erica knew that was just an act to cover up her lack of useful character traits.

It wasn't until she got on the subway that Erica finally thought to check her phone. Her mother had sent her a text to get ready for a stargazing night. When Erica read that text, she breathed a sigh of relief. After everything that had happened that day, she really needed a relaxing night with her mom, Uncle Selvig, and Lilly watching the stars. Erica's mother is an astrophysicist, and as such spends a lot of nights staying up late collecting data for her research. Since Erica was really little, she has joined her mother on as many of these nights as possible. Nowadays, it has become more like a dysfunctional Foster family movie night, with gigantic balls of gas billions of light-years away instead of a movie.

Erica and Lilly switched trains at the next stop and headed toward the college where Ms. Foster works. Thankfully their homework wasn't too difficult, and they ended up passing the time people watching outside the college library. They were snickering at the guy in pajama pants and a sweatshirt trying to fit a giant textbook in a backpack that was already bursting at the seams when Erica's mom came out.

"Hey, you two. Ready to go?" she asked.

"Yep," Erica replied.

"Is Dr. Selvig going to join us there?" Lilly inquired.

Erica's mom looked a little nervous. "No, he has something else to do today."

Erica was a little surprised by this. Uncle Selvig usually insisted on coming, claiming that three girls all alone in the country needed some kind of male protector (Personally, Erica highly doubts that he would be any help if there was any actual trouble. She puts more stock in the tazzer her mom always keeps in the glove compartment). Determined not to let anything else ruin this day, Erica pushed her concern aside and turned to her mom. "So, what are we looking for today?"

Ms. Foster unlocked her van so the three of them could climb in and start heading out of the city. "Oh, nothing special. I actually have an experiment I want to try with you two."

Erica was even more surprised by this, but decided not to think about it to much and just focused on the music playing from the stereo. Her all-time favorite band, Train, was playing, so it was easy to let herself be lost in _Drops of Jupiter_ and _Marry Me_.

When they got to their usual spot, it was already starting to get dark. The lights of the city were still bright on the horizon, but they were still able to see the brightest stars. Unfortunately, one of the disadvantages of living in New York was the constant city lights keeping the stars from being visible the way they were in New Mexico. Every summer they took a trip to Ms. Foster's old lab in New Mexico. That was the place to go stargazing.

Erica's mom started to set up the equipment to take astronomical readings while Lily and Erica laid out a blanket and the food they had brought for dinner. When all the preparations were done, the three girls sat on the blanket and ate. While they ate, Lily and Erica chatted about their day, though both of them avoided any mention of their little misadventure with S.H.I.E.L.D.. Erica figured that the fact that you and your friends had just been recruited to be superspies was NOT something you mention to your mother.

While Lily and Erica chatted, Erica's mom smiled and laughed when it was appropriate, but still seemed to be miles away. When they were done, she handed her plate to Lily and asked, "Could you please put these away, Lily?"

"Sure, Aunt Jane," Lily replied. Erica's mom had decided years ago that "Ms. Foster" was too formal for someone who was practically a second daughter to refer to her. "Aunt Jane" had stuck.

While Lily walked away with the dishes, Jane turned to look at the sky. For a few moments, there was an awkward silence between mother and daughter. Suddenly, Erica's mom spoke up.

"I first met your father on a night like this," she whispered.

Erica perked up, hanging on to every word. Her mother never spoke about her father, ever.

"I was collecting data." Ms. Foster explained, her eyes lost in her memories. "There was some kind of violent atmospheric disturbance, so I was driving away. Suddenly, I felt something hit the car. It was this big, buff, blond man."

"Dad?" Erica asked shocked.

"Yep," her mother confirmed.

"You hit dad with your car?" Erica asked.

"Twice, actually. That time, plus that time he escaped from the hospital and I was about to look all over town and backed into him. But my assistant tazed him."

Erica laughed. "And he still married you?"

Her mom smiled. "Yes, he did." Suddenly, she turned really serious. "Erica, there are a lot of things you need to know about your father and that side of the family, but I haven't been able to figure out how to tell you. If everything goes right today, it should be easier to explain everything to you."

Lily came back from putting everything away, and Erica's mom stood up. "Well, are you girls ready to try something new?"

The two girls nodded, excited to see what they were going to do. Ms. Foster led them to the van and took out an elaborate mechanism.

"Uh, mom, what is that contraption?" Erica asked.

Erica's mom smiled. "It's just something that I whipped up, using some of Selvig's old work and some technology your father showed me." She fiddled with some of the wires, and various lights lit up around the mechanism. Suddenly, the motors in the machine started whirling, and Ms. Foster backed up to view her handiwork.

"Uh, Aunt Jane, what exactly is this thing supposed to do?" Lily asked.

Erica's mom smiled. "Bring us home, to where we belong."

suddenly, the three girls heard a voice far off. "Jane!"

Erica and Lily turned to see Dr. Selvig climbing out of a taxi to run toward them. Erica started to wave, until she noticed her mother wasn't even paying attention to the physicists running toward them.

Dr. Selvig caught up to where they were, watching the mysterious contraption whirl with no visible results. "Jane, stop this. You can't harness enough energy in this world to open the portal. Besides, you may never have explained to me why exactly you had to leave, but what makes you think that it has changed? If it was safe for you to go back, they would have undoubtedly have sent someone to bring you back. Just wait, they will come."

"But I can't wait any longer!" Erica's mom suddenly shouted. She was crying. "It's been 15 years, and I haven't heard anything! And Erica…"She was sopping uncontrollably at this point, "I want to know what's happening to my daughter!"

"What's happening to me?" Erica asked. Without realizing it, she started crying as well.

Her mom turned to her, worried. "It's nothing, sweetie. I'm just paranoid. It will all make sense soon."

"It clearly is NOT nothing, if you are willing to do something Uncle Selvig doesn't want you to do, it has to be SOMETHING you are really worried about!" Erica's whole body started shaking uncontrollably. Everything that had happened that day came rushing back to her: breaking into S.H.I.E.L.D., Tim, Ana, Phil, James. Erica sobbed, "I can't deal with any more secrets today!"

"Erica?" Lily whispered. "You should calm down."

Erica wiped the tears from her eyes. Her mom and Uncle Selvig were staring at the sky above them. When she looked up, she could see a dark, ominous cloud hovering over them, blotting out all the stars.

"Great," Erica murmured. "Now, we can't even stargaze anymore."

"Lily is right," Erica's mom whispered. "You really need to calm down Erica."

"How is my temper going to change anything?" Erica shouted.

Immediately, a bolt of lightning hit the contraption, still whirling on the ground.

"NO!" Erica's mom screamed.

But the contraption didn't catch on fire of explode like it should have. Instead, it shot out a strange yellow light with blue specks scattered amid the yellow. The light collected several yards above the mechanism, and formed an oval. The light in the center of the oval moved to the edge, revealing what almost seamed to be a hole in the dark sky.

"Oh God," Selvig gasped. "It actually worked."

The hole in the sky originally appeared to be filled with more blinding light, but on closer inspection, it showed an image of a great, golden city. Within moments though, the golden city was blocked out by a horrendous creature.

"No!" Erica's mom cried. "They're still there!" She turned to Erica and Lily. "Shut it off! I don't care how, just stop them from coming!"

Erica was frozen. She couldn't even convince her legs to move. Lucky, Lily wasn't impaired as she was and dragged Erica to the contraption. Erica fell down next to the mechanism, still unable to comprehend or react to the situation.

Lily started pulling on any loose wires she could get her hands on, but nothing budged. "Damn it!" she cried, hitting the mechanism with her fist. When her hand landed, it turned blue and became covered with intricate markings. Lily's eyes grew wide, just as surprised by her hand as Erica was. A layer of frost developed over the machine, creeping out from Lily's hand, until all the motors were frozen solid and unmoving. The light stopped shooting from the contraption, and the hole in the sky started to collapse.

Erica and Lily breathed a sigh of relief. But, before the hole disappeared completely, the creature reached a long arm through the opening and reached for Erica. Before It could grab her, Ms. Foster jumped in between them. A large, disgusting hand grabbed Erica's mom and started dragging her through the portal,

"MOM!" Erica screamed.

Her mother gave her one last look. "Run, sweetheart!"

And with that, the hand pulled her back through the hole. There was a rush of gold falling to earth from the hole and what remained of the light disappeared.

Erica fell to her knees. Her mother was gone.

Unfortunately, Erica's musings were interrupted by a new, loud voice. "Come at me, you fiends!"

Erica turned. The rush of gold that had fallen when the portal disappeared turned out to be a boy, about Erica's age, clad in ancient Norse armor, wielding a beautiful, deadly sword.

"I will fight any one of you who asks for it, for I am…" the boy started jittering uncontrollably and fell on his face, revealing Lily standing behind him wielding the tazer.

Dr. Selvig put his head in his hands. "This looks so familiar, and not in a good way."

* * *

**Duh duh duh! Things are finally starting to shake up.**

**Please read & review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Wow! I am on a role! Mind you, this chapter is kinda on the short side, and a good chunk the beginning was already written, so it isn't that great of an achievement, but still!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters**

* * *

Chapter 8: The Morning After

_Erica felt safe. So very, very safe, as though she knew that a thousand warriors were prepared to fight to the death to protect her. She also felt loved, as though her family entire family was near. She was comfortable in some kind of silk gown and sleeping in a giant, gold cradle. Her surroundings were magnificent, an enormous golden room with decorated with carvings and tapestries alluding to legends and bedtime stories. Erica would have been perfectly fine with staying in this moment forever._

_ Suddenly, the door at the other side of the room flew open. A giant warrior clad in battle armor and a red cape ran to Erica and picked her up like she weighed nothing. The warrior then carried her out of the room and down an enormous hallway._

_ Erica began to squirm in the warrior's arms. Although she felt as though being carried by him was nothing new (in fact, she felt that his arms inspired memories of comfort), she did not like that fact that he was running with her. _

_ The warrior looked down on her lovingly and said, "Do not worry, my child. Thou art simply spending a few days on Midgard, thy mother's homeland. When the battle is won, I shall return to collect thee and thy mother as well." The warrior then shifted Erica such that she could look over his shoulder. Erica was granted a marvelous view of a great golden city as they ran farther away from it._

_ When the warrior reached the edge of the city, and handed Erica to a beautiful woman clad in royal silks and precious jewelry. Erica recognized the woman as her mother, and relaxed into her comforting arms._

_ The warrior leaned down and gave Erica a kiss on her brow, then kissed her mother on the lips. He then turned his back to the city and cried in a loud voice, "Brother! I have brought them, as you instructed. Now tell me, how do you mean to get them out of Asgard?"_

_ A space of air next to the warrior shimmered, and out of it stepped—_

"Erica! ERICA!"

Erica opened her eyes to see Lily shaking her. Erica groggily sat up. "What is it? You better have a damn good reason for waking me up."

"7:00" Lily stated simply.

Erica bolted out of bed. "How the hell did I sleep 30 minutes past my alarm?" she shouted while pulling on the first things her hands touched.

Lily held up Erica's old alarm clock, completely dead. "I think you broke it yesterday. You sure do go through alarm clocks really fast."

At the mention of yesterday, thousands of emotions flooded Erica. Trying to make sense of it all, she asked, "Did it all really happen?"

"Did all what happen?"

"You know, yesterday. SHIELD. Tim. Ana. Phil. James." Erica had a hard time forcing out her next words. "Mom's experiment."

Lily looked down at her hands. "I'm afraid so."

Erica's eyesight grew blurred with tears. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Lily looked surprised. "What do you have to be sorry for?"

"I was useless. I always act confident and ready for anything, but that is all it is. An act. When things really got tense, I froze up."Erica choked on her words. "I couldn't save my own mother when it counted." Erica left her closet, fully clothed, and walked to her dresser to do her hair. "You were amazing, doing exactly what was needed. I just froze up."

"Don't beat yourself up. Nothing that happened was your fault. If it had been anybody else, they probably would have freaked out as well."

"You didn't."

"Honestly, I don't know why." Lily frowned. "I was scared out of my wits the entire time. For some reason, I just felt like I had been situations at least as bad."

Erica turned to her best friend, surprised. "Are you starting to remember? You know anything before you were 5?"

Lily shook her head. "Not really, it's more of a feeling than a memory." She sighed. "Anyway, stop beating yourself up about it. You need to be the cheerful, spunky, crazy Erica that I know, not this self-loathing girl I've never met. Especially since we are going to meet the SHIELD consultant today."

"That's right!" Erica pulled her hair up into a ponytail and turned to her friend. "It's decided. I'll become an agent of SHIELD and train so if something like that happens again, I'll be ready."

Lily smiled. "Now that's the Erica I know."

Erica walked downstairs to make a quick breakfast before school. "By the way, do you know what happened with that guy you tazed?" she asked.

"I don't. Uncle Selvig lleft with him after dropping us off. He kept muttering something about a hospital disaster."

"I wonder what that was about." Erica muttered, vaguely remembering the trip home afterwards. Suddenly, another memory entered her mind and she jolted.

"What is it, Erica?" Lily asked.

"What? Oh, nothing." But it wasn't nothing. Erica had remembered her dream. Not only had it extended even more last night, but it had some unnerving details.

For one thing, the way the warrior had kissed her mother made Erica think that they were exceptionally close. Could he be some relative, possible Erica's father? Another thing, the warrior had mentioned a battle and sending Erica to Midgard. Erica knew from Norse Mythology that Midgard was the name of the realm humans lived in. In other words, Earth. What was this battle about, and why did he want to get Erica to Earth? Also, the warrior had spoken with his "brother" about having Erica and her mother leave Asgard. Asgard was the legendary home of the Norse gods, the kingdom ruled by Odin Allfather. What were Erica and her mom doing there, and why would they have to leave?

However, none of these facts held a candle to the most disturbing detail. When the warrior carried Erica, she got a good image of the golden city she had been in previously. And Erica was confident that she had seen that city before, quite recently. It was the same city she had gotten a glimpse of in the hole in the sky that had taken her mother.

Erica shivered. It was just a dream, of course her subconscious would have wanted to bring up events from that day.

It was just a dream, right?

* * *

**OK! Probably didn't tell you all that you wanted to know, but still brought up some important stuff to keep you hooked. Bwah ha ha ha!**

**Seriously though, when I see my number of views, follows, favorites, or reviews go up, I get so happy! Especially for reviews. Please read & review!**


End file.
